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SI. No

TOPICS Pg.No

1 Tamil Nadu 3 2 State 12 3 National 14 4 Scheme 20 5 Court Verdict 21 6 International 22 7 India & other countries 24 8 Conferences & Summits 25 9 Defence 26 10 Economics 27

11 Appointment 29 12 Awards 30 13 Personalities 31

14 Science, Technology & Environment

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15 Sports 34 16 Obituary 36 17 Ranking 37 18 Report 37 19 Important Days 39 20 Apex 40

CURRENT AFFAIRS – July (1 - 31), 2021

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TAMIL NADU

➢ Car major Hyundai ✓ South Korean car major Hyundai – has rolled out its 10 millionth car in India from its

factory in Sriperumbudur off Chennai

➢ V.C. for Periyar University ✓ R Jagannathan – is appointed as the New vice-chancellor of Periyar University by

Governor Banwarilal Purohit on June 30

➢ King Institute ✓ Chief Minister M K Stalin - inaugurated the post-Covid care clinic at Government Covid

Hospital on King Institute campus in Guindy, Chennai.

➢ Vezham ✓ The forest department - is setting up an interpretation centre named ‘Vezham’ (elephant)

at the government timber depot on Kotagiri Road in to create awareness about elephants among children.

➢ Covid – Vaccination for pregnant Women ✓ Tamil Nadu - began the vaccination drive for pregnant women for the first time in the

country at Pennadam in Cuddalore district ✓ Pregnant women can opt for vaccination at any stage of their pregnancy after

registration on Co-WIN portal or by walk-in registration at the nearest centre.

➢ The labour department – has registered around 5 lakh migrant workers from other states in its ‘online’ portal, till now.

➢ Manali – has become the first zone of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) to have an

all-women team to manage solid waste.

➢ Cinematograph Act, 1952 ✓ Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin – expressed his opposition to the Centre’s

proposed amendment to the Cinematograph Act, 1952.

➢ Three stone inscriptions and two base sculptures belonging to the 10th Century - have

been discovered in water bodies in and around Thesur village in Tiruvannamalai district.

➢ Dindigul I Leoni - Text Book Society head. ✓ Dindigul I Leoni, a popular talk show host - has been appointed head of the Tamil Nadu

Textbook and Educational Services Corporation.

➢ Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Art and Literature society for the Awards. ✓ Chief minister M K Stalin - presented cash awards and certificates to 21 writers for their

best literary works in the fields of art, culture, literature and research activities ✓ The literary luminaries were identified by the Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Art and

Literature Society for the awards ✓ The state government extends financial support to the Adi-Dravidar writers, for which a

corpus fund of Rs. 50 lakh has been created.

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➢ Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin – has sanctioned Rs. 1.25 crore assistance to the

Tamil Chair from Cologne University in Germany ✓ The timely financial assistance for the Tamil department in the University will prevent its

closure due to a paucity of funds ✓ The previous AIADMK government has also announced an assistance of Rs. 1.25 crore to

the Tamil Chair in 2019.

➢ Tamil Nadu – has only, one out of five, government schools in the state with internet facility. ✓ Of the 37,579 government schools in the state, only 6,746 schools (17.9%) have internet

facility ✓ This was revealed in the Unified District Information System for Education Plus

(UDISE+) report for 2019-20 released last week. ✓ More than 80% government schools, however, have computer facility and most of them

are functional. ✓ The internet facility has become one of the basic requirements for learning due to online

mode of education during the Covid-19 pandemic. ✓ Among the 12,382 private schools in the state, 90% have computers and 75% have

internet facility. ➢ The Navy - has announced that the area within the 3km radius from the perimeter of INS

Rajali naval air station in Arakkonam is a ‘no fly zone’ ✓ According to DGCA, people have to register all drones with DiGi Sky platform and

activate the ‘No permission- No Take off’ above 200ft altitude.

➢ The plan to set up India’s first offshore desalination plant off the Chennai coast – is to commence soon with the recent launch of the Rs 4,000 crore Deep Ocean Mission

➢ PCV – Vaccine ✓ The Tamil Nadu government - will launch the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV)

under universal immunisation programme. ✓ The initiative is expected to help reduce deaths due to pneumonia and meningitis among

children below five. ✓ PCV will be provided free to children along with other vaccines under the universal

immunisation programme.

➢ An all-party meeting in Chennai - unanimously urged the Union government not to clear the Mekedatu dam project pushed by Karnataka ✓ According to the CM, the proposed dam, with a capacity of 67.16tmcft, would affect the

interests of Tamil Nadu farmers.

➢ Doorstep Medical- as ‘Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam’

✓ Tamil Nadu Government – to launch a doorstep medical care programme to offer home-based dialysis units to people with chronic renal failure.

✓ The initiative is named as ‘Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam’ ✓ Initially, the state will launch a mass screening programme over the next 10 days to

identify people with non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension in the state

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✓ Later, those with diabetes or hypertension will undergo preliminary screening and consultation at PHCs.

✓ They will also carry glucometers and BP apparatus with them for routine screening.

➢ Justice A K Rajan – had submitted a 165-page report to chief minister M K Stalin at the secretariat

A First generation students in government medical college (%) B Influence of family income below 2.5 lakh (%) C No. Students from Tamil Nadu D State board Students % E Number of govt school students who got admission into govt medical college. 7.5 %

quota

F Number of govt school students who got admission into Self financing medical college. 7.5 % quota

G Demand for domicillary certificate for admission to govt medical colleges % H Demand for domicillary certificate for admission to Self financing medical colleges

%

➢ Tamil Nadu government – will launch 47 industrial projects bringing in investments to the tune of Rs. 28,664 crore into the state ✓ These projects are expected to provide employment to 82,400 people in the state ✓ Out of the 47 projects, the state government will sign agreements for 35 new projects,

with an investments worth over Rs.17,000 crore ✓ Further, the foundation stone for 9 other projects would be laid by Chief Minister M.K.

Stalin.

➢ Chief Minister M K Stalin - announced his government is working on a target to make Tamil Nadu a $1 trillion ($1 lakh crore) GDP economy by the year 2030. ✓ The CM launched the DMK government's first major Industrial Conclave, organized by

the Guidance bureau, after it came to power in May 2021 ✓ The state government has also unveiled an upgraded website 2.0 for single window

clearance that has inculcated 100 more services across 24 departments ✓ It is further planning to add 210 services under the initiative by next March ✓ During the event, 35 new MoUs were signed in the presence of the CM to bring in more

than Rs.17,141 crore in new investments and generate employment to 55,000 people. ✓ In addition, foundation stones were laid for 9 new projects involving an investment of

Rs.4,250 crore and generating employment to over 21,600 people ✓ Further, the CM has inaugurated commercial production in 5 industrial units established

with a combined investment of Rs.7,117 crore and employing close to 6,800 people.

➢ Tamil Nadu government – has ordered the officials not to consider the salary and agriculture income while issuing the Other Backward Classes (OBC) certificates in the state

➢ ‘Canine Parvovirus’ ✓ The State veterinary university – has warned that several dogs in Chennai had started

testing positive for the highly contagious ‘canine parvovirus’

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➢ Rurban Mission ✓ The Union government – is planning to construct a heritage village and tourism at

Singaperumal Koil as part of efforts to promote rural tourism. ✓ Singaperumal Koil, located at 40km from Chennai, and six nearby villages - Appur,

Chettipuniyam, Guruvanmedu, Kolathur, Reddiplayam and Venkatapuram - are already notified as a cluster for implementing `Rurban' mission

✓ The mission aims to bridge the gap between urban and rural areas by providing economic, livelihood and physical infrastructure facilities in rural areas.

✓ Under the mission, women of the villages are brought together and are being provided training for livelihood. The mission says that the rural-urban divide in Tamil Nadu is 3.10%, much less than the national average.

➢ Tamil Nadu government – has reconstituted the state-level vigilance and monitoring committee for SC/STs with chief minister M K Stalin as chairman. ✓ Mr. Palanivel Thiagarajan (Finance), ✓ N Kayalvizhi Selvaraj (adi dravidar welfare), ✓ C V Ganesan (labour welfare) ✓ M Mathiventhan (tourism) ✓ It comprises of nine MPs, including VCK leaders Thol Thirumavalavan and D

Ravikumar. ➢ The state government - has decided to offer “Procurement Preference” to startups in

public purchases, both products and services, by various government departments and connected organizations ✓ According to the GO released, startups in Tamil Nadu are technically capable of

providing solutions to governance and other issues faced by the departments in implementing schemes.

✓ Providing procurement preference in varied segments - IT, agritech and edutech - to startups will also help them to develop rapidly and create enormous employment and wealth in the state.

➢ ‘High Priority’-by TN Govt ✓ Tamil Nadu government – has made mandatory for employees as well as their family

members to take both doses of Covid-19 vaccine to access workplaces or industries, treating them as ‘high priority’ group

✓ Health inspectors — who have completed courses in public health at recognised universities — should ensure all staff members are screened at the workplace entrance.

✓ Besides measuring temperature, the health inspectors should record details of symptoms and history of family members testing positive in the past week.

✓ Staff having symptoms must be quarantined and referred to the nearest health facility for performing further tests and management.

➢ Tamil Nadu school education department – is planning to train all 3 lakh teachers in government schools with basic functional computer skills ✓ Each teacher will be trained for five days on creating a word document, PDF, sending e-

mails and on how to use online videos in classrooms. ✓ The training will be conducted in hi-tech labs in around 7,000 government high and

higher secondary schools throughout the state.

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✓ The teachers will also be trained on entering data on EMIS (Educational Management Information System) The EMIS is a government data repository with enrollment and other details of students across government-run schools in the state.

✓ The ‘Resource Persons Training’ will be launched by school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi on July 26.

➢ The Tamil Nadu government - announced that it will implement 10.5% special reservation for vanniyars in admission to all courses, including professional courses, from the academic year 2021-22. ✓ After consultation with legal experts and the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission

(TNPSC), chief minister M K Stalin issued an order to implement the 10.5% special reservation from February 26, 2021

✓ The previous AIADMK government had passed the legislation to temporarily provide for 10.5% special reservation for vanniyars within the 20% quota for most backward classes (MBCs).

➢ Chief Minister M K Stalin - inaugurated 25 CNG (compressed natural gas) stations in Chennai and Tiruvallur and one main station of Gujarat-based Torrent Gas through video conferencing. ✓ Torrent Gas plans to commission 50 CNG stations by September this year and 100 CNG

stations by June next year and 500 by March 2023. ✓ As per the plan, within the next year, at least 70,000 households in Chennai will be

covered by PNG (piped natural gas) supply, which is a cheaper alternative to LPG cylinders.

✓ At current prices, PNG is about 40 % cheaper than LPG.

➢ Chennai-based National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) - deployed a buoy fitted with sensors off the coast of Puducherry ✓ Based on the data, the NCCR team will also calculate the water quality index alongwith

remedial measures to improve it, if needed ✓ After the southwest monsoon ends in September, NCCR plans to deploy similar buoys

off Visakhapatnam and Lakshadweep. ✓ At present, it collects water samples manually in more than 22 locations along the

7,500km Indian coast every month to measure quality.

➢ Revival of MSMEs in the state govt ✓ The Tamil Nadu government –has constituted a 13-member expert committee for revival

of MSMEs in the state. ✓ Former Industries secretary, Tamil Nadu government. ✓ The state government had promised to constitute such a committee “to formulate

schemes for revival of MSMEs” in the Governor’s address delivered to the state assembly on June 21, 2021.

The committee will include –

✓ Prof M Vijayabhaskar, part time member of State Development Policy Council, ✓ Bindu Anand, former member of RBI Committees on financial inclusion, SME finance

and securitization, ✓ N Balasubramaniam, former CMD, SIDBI, ✓ Hemalatha Annamalai, co-founder and ex-CEO, Ampere Vehicles (evehicle), ✓ Israr Ahmed, regional chairman, FIEO,

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✓ Anburajan, president, TANSTIA and ✓ R Anand, ex-partner, Ernst and Young and former member of RBI Committee on

Asset Reconstruction Companies. ➢ The state government - decided to bestow veteran Communist leader N Sankaraiah, who

recently celebrated his 100th birthday, with the recently constituted ‘Thagaisal Thamizhar’ (Venerable Tamil) award. ✓ Chief Minister M K Stalin will present the award to Sankaraiah at the Independence Day

celebrations in Chennai on August 15. ✓ The award carries a citation and a cheque for Rs.10 lakh. ✓ Responding to the announcement and expressing his intent to accept the award,

Sankaraiah thanked the CM for the recognition. ✓ He however donated the Rs.10 lakh prize money to CM’s Covid-19 Relief Fund

➢ Greater Chennai Corporation – to launch the Rs. 180-crore air and water pollution

mitigation programme in association with Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board ✓ Under the programme, the civic body is planning to install ambient air quality

monitoring systems (AAQMS) in 50 locations in the city. ✓ The system would calculate the level of air pollutants such as PM2.5, PM10, SOx, NOx

and carbon monoxide and display it on digital boards. ✓ Further, wind augmentation and purifying units (WAYU) will be installed at 20 junctions

in Chennai.

➢ Tamil Nadu Director-General of Police (DGP) C Sylendra Babu – announced weekly day-off to police personnel in the state in order to maintain their health and enable them to spend time with their family.

➢ American-based solar technology company First Solar Inc - announced that it will invest $684 million in a new, fully vertically integrated photovoltaic (PV) thin film solar module manufacturing facility in the state

➢ Srivilliputhur sanctuary has the highest leopard density in Western Ghats: report ✓ The Srivilliputhur Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu has the highest

leopard density (per 100 sq km), not just in the State but in the entire Western Ghats landscape.

➢ Phuket to be Chennai’s sister city ✓ The city of Phuket in Thailand has proposed to establish a sister city agreement with

Chennai. ✓ The Royal Thai Consulate-General in Chennai has requested the Greater Chennai

Corporation to discuss various aspects of the sister city partnership.

➢ Denmark looks to set up centre for offshore wind in T.N. ✓ Denmark is keen on setting up a Centre of Excellence for Offshore Wind and believes

that Tamil Nadu is the best place for it as wind patterns are consistent here. ✓ A location has also been identified, Danish Ambassador to India Freddy Svane.

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New higher education panel formed; The Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education (TANSCHE) has been reconstituted by the government with the appointment

➢ as

Name Sector

Ramasamy.A Vice-Chairman .

S. Krishnasamy Member secretary

✓ Mr. Ramasamy, a former Vice-chancellor of Alagappa University, is a historian. He has

written books on the language struggle and Dravidian politics. ✓ He had also served as the Vice-Chairman of TANSCHE from 2006 to 2011. ✓ The Council has been functioning without a Vice-Chairman since 2016. ✓ Mr. Krishnasamy was an associate professor of history in Pachaiyappa’s College. ✓ While the Higher Education Minister will be the head of the Council, the Additional

Chief Secretary from the Finance Department, Secretary to the Governor, Principal Secretary of the Higher Education Department, the Director of Collegiate Education, and the Director of Technical Education will be some of its ex-officio members.

➢ Centre grants relief package of 800 crore rupees to Tamil Nadu for Covid-19 management ✓ Tamil Nadu Health Minister M. Subramaniam said that the Union Government granted

a relief package of 800 crore rupees for management of the second wave and prevention of the third wave in the state.

➢ President Ramnath Kovind unveiled Karunanidhi’s portrait in Tamil Nadu Assembly ✓ President Ram Nath Kovind participated in an event commemorating the centenary

year of the Madras Legislative Council and unveil a portrait of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi inside the Assembly premises.

➢ Study finds heavy metals in ambient air in city ✓ The presence of heavy metals, including nickel, manganese and silica, in the ambient air

has technically put Chennai in the ‘unhealthy’ category.

➢ Auto Insurance Scheme in Tamil Nadu Post Office ✓ A scheme to provide auto insurance has been launched at the Tamil Nadu Post Office. ✓ Accordingly, insurance is provided for two and four wheelers.

➢ Class 9 student made palm sized CPU, Chief Minister Stalin praised ✓ SS Madhav, a Class IX student from Tiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu, has made a palm-

sized computer CPU. For this unique construction, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin met

✓ SS Madhav and wished him all the best for this construction. Appreciating Madhav’s work, Stalin assured Madhav of the state government’s assistance for computer-related studies and research.

➢ Stalin launches free COVID-19 vaccination through private hospitals using CSR funds

✓ Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin launched a free COVID-19 vaccination drive through private hospitals, financially supported by their Corporate Social Responsibility Fund.

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➢ T.N. Open University begins excavation at Porpanaikottai

✓ Minister for Environment Siva V. Meyyanathan inaugurated the excavation works taken up by the Tamil Nadu Open University at Porpanaikottai village in Tiruvarangulam panchayat union in the district in a bid to unearth possible archaeological remains.

Recent Excavations –in Tamilnadu

➢ Sivagalai Archaeological

✓ For the first time, a full human skeleton - was discovered in one of urns found at the Sivagalai archaeological site on July.

✓ The second phase of excavation is underway at the site by the Tamil Nadu state department of archaeology

✓ It is being established under the guidance of the principal investigator department of genetics Dr G Kumaresan and eminent immunologist Dr R M Pitchappan.

➢ Ra Ra Peruvazhi

✓ An 800-year-old stone inscription belonging to the reign of Rajaraja Chola I - has been found in Nambuthalai near Thondi in Ramanathapuram district.

✓ Ra Ra Peruvazhi, is the name of the east coast highway laid during the period of Rajaraja Cholan.

➢ Archaeologists in Pudukkottai – have discovered three rare Aasiriyam (declaration) stone tablets, dating back to the period between the 13th and 16th centuries

➢ The State Archaeology Department – has discovered the remnants of a large ancient conch industry in Korkai in Tuticorin district ✓ This is the site in which the Tamil Nadu State Archaeology Department conducted its

first excavation, after it was established in 1969. ➢ A terracotta container with an intricately designed band running along its outer surface –

has been unearthed at the archaeological site at Keeladi in Sivaganga during the seventh phase of excavation

✓ The ring wells unearthed in Keeladi, have an interlocking system where sand cannot enter the wells, but air and water could percolate through them.

✓ It is believed that these structures helped inhabitants of Keeladi to have more permanent dwellings and as they had water and did not have the need to migrate during droughts.

➢ Archaeologists – have discovered a rubble stone well at the Kodumanal site, close to the

banks of river Noyyal near Chennimalai in Erode district ✓ Earlier, ring wells and brick wells have been found in other archaeological sites in Tamil

Nadu like Keezhadi in Sivagangai district ✓ Archaeologists have found evidence for existence of iron smelting unit with furnaces in

the site, besides urn burials, beads, pot shreds with brahmi inscriptions, aged 2,300 years. ✓ Kodumanal has yielded the highest number of pot sherds with Tamil brahmi

inscriptions Kodumanal site has copper, gold, iron and glass pieces as well as artefacts

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✓ There were three types of burial methods – cairn circles, urn burials and urn burials with cists - found at Kodumanal site

➢ Konthagi is burial site of Keeladi

✓ Archaeologists - have identified seven human skeletons in a single quadrant in Konthagai in the Keeladi cluster. Keeladi is considered to have been the industrial hub of a 2,600-year-old civilization

✓ Its neighbouring villages of Konthagai, Agaram and Manalur are also treated as part of this civilization.

✓ At present, the seventh phase of excavation is taking place in Keeladi cluster ✓ The second phase of excavation is being carried out in the three neighbouring villages of

Konthagai, Agaram and Manalur by the Tamil Nadu state department of archaeology ✓ As per the recent findings, Konthagai was supposed to be the burial site of the Keeladi

civilization. ➢ A punch-marked silver coin - was located at the Keeladi excavation site in Sivaganga

✓ The discovery was announced by Archaeology minister Thangam Thennarasu ✓ The coin having the figures of the sun, moon, bull, taurine, an animal figurine, and

geometric designs show that Keeladi inhabitants were a trading community. ✓ Located at a depth of 1.46 m, the punch-marked coin indicates the existence of trade

between north and south, particularly with the Gangetic valley. ✓ During the ancient period, such silver punch-marked coins were in circulation from the

time of Mahajanpadas of the 6th century BCE. ✓ Such coins have been recovered from excavations conducted at Alangulam also.

➢ Discovery of additional wall at Ariyalur Maligaimedu excavation ✓ The State Department of Archaeology has made some encouraging finds lower than two

months into the excavation at Maligaimedu near Gangaikondacholapuram, the capital of King Rajendra Chola I.

➢ Terracotta container with designs found in Keeladi ✓ A terracotta container, which has intricately designed bands around it, has been

unearthed at the Keeladi archaeological site in TamilNadu.

➢ Megalithic full-length sword unearthed ✓ The excavations at Mayiladumparai in Krishnagiri district have yielded a full-length iron

sword broken at places. ✓ This is the first time the Department of Archaeology has unearthed a full-length sword

with a handle in Tamil Nadu. ✓ The length is 60 cm.

➢ Chola era temple in Velachery grabs government’s attention ✓ Work to clean the precincts of Sri Vasudevaperumal temple at Ram Nagar in Velachery

will be expedited. ✓ A large part of the temple is covered with thick layer of dirt. ✓ Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments P. Sekarbabu said that

officials had been asked to dig out documents and any information relating to the temple.

➢ Perforated terracotta distillation pipes unearthed in Korkai ✓ Nine perforated terracotta pipes, stacked one above the other, have been found during

archaeological excavation at Korkai, an ancient site, in Thoothukudi district.

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STATE

➢ Pushkar Dhami sworn in as Uttarkhand Chief Minister

✓ Two-time MLA from Khatima in Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami was sworn in as the 11th Chief Minister of the State along with an 11-member cabinet

➢ The Odisha State Cooperative Handicrafts Corporation Ltd - has submitted the application for the geographical indication (GI) tag to the famous silver filigree of Cuttack

➢ The first case of Zika virus – was reported in the state of Kerala ✓ A 24-year-old pregnant woman was found infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus

in the state.

➢ Ladakh – First Union Territory –to vaccinate. ✓ The first Union Territory to vaccinate all residents and the migrant labourers, hotel

workers and Nepalese citizens who live there, with the first dose of Covid-19 jab.

➢ On July, the Assam cabinet – announced the creation of a “Department of indigenous faith and culture” to protect the culture and practices of people belonging to tribal and other indigenous communities.

➢ U.P Population Bill 2021

✓ The Yogi Adityanath government unveiled the policy on population control for 2021-30 on the occasion of the World Population Day on July.

✓ Uttar Pradesh has a total fertility rate of 2.7% currently, whereas it should ideally be less than 2.1%. The draft Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization and Welfare) Bill, 2021 - is open for public suggestions in public domain till July

✓ The draft bill, among other provisions, seeks to provide incentives to couples who follow the two-child policy. .

➢ Balika Panchyat ✓ Kunariya village in Kutch district in Gujarat – to become the first village in the country to

elect a Balika Panchayat (Girls Council) ✓ The panchayat is aimed at addressing issues around female adolescents — of the girls, by

the girls, for the girls – and empower women in the village ✓ Young females from the village, aged between 10 and 21 years, will contest elections for

this unique panchayat. ✓ This “girls only” council will run parallel to the adult village version, but only address

issues pertaining to adolescent girls and women in the village.

➢ Pariwar Aarthik Sahayata Yojana’ ✓ The new scheme was notified by Department of Social Welfare recently. ✓ Under this scheme, Rs 50,000 ex gratia will be provided to every family who lost a

member to Covid-19 infection. ✓ Further, an additional pension of Rs 2,500 per month will be provided to the family

members, if the deceased was sole breadwinner of the family. ✓ Children who lost their both parents or one parent will also be provided Rs 2,500 per

month till the age of 25 years alongwith the provision for free education.

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➢ Telangana’s Ramappa temple, also known as Rudreswara temple – becomes the country’s 39th world heritage site on July ✓ The historic Rudreswara temple, an architectural marvel created in stone, became

UNESCO’s first world heritage site in Telangana ✓ Located at Palampet in Mulugu district, the iconic temple was voted for inclusion in the

world heritage sites’ list at the 44th virtual session of the World Heritage Committee of the UNESCO, which is currently underway at Fuzhou in China

✓ This temple is known as Ramappa temple, named after the sculptor who, for 40 years, executed the work in the temple.

➢ Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan - virtually launched UNESCO’s ‘Historic Urban Landscape’ project for ‘Gwalior and Orchha’ cities of the state through video conferencing recently.

➢ Odisha’s Puri – becomes India’s first city to provide 24x7 piped drinking water supply ✓ Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik launched “Sujal — Drink from Tap Mission”

through a virtual platform ✓ During the launch, the CM said Puri has joined international cities like London, New

York and Singapore in supplying round-the-clock quality piped drinking water from taps.

➢ Karnataka home minister Basavaraj Bommai - will be sworn in as the 23rd CM of the state on July

➢ Dholavira, a Harappan-era metropolis in the Kutch region of Gujarat - declared as ‘UNESCO World Heritage Site’ (WHS) on July ✓ The first representation for Dholavira’s inscription was made in 2014 by the Government

of India. ✓ The ancient town, found in 1967 and excavated in 1989-90 for the first time, is the second

biggest Harappan site after Rakhigarhi in India. ✓ The formal announcement of Dholavira’s new title was made during the ongoing 44th

session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee. ✓ After Mohenjodaro in Pakistan, Dholavira is the second Harappan site to get the coveted

tag in south Asia and the first from India.

➢ Uttar Pradesh – has the maximum number of manual scavengers in the country (37,379

people), followed by Maharashtra (7.378) and Assam (4,295), based on two surveys carried out in 2013 and 2018

➢ Pink Protection

✓ The Kerala Police launched a new initiative called the Pink Protection project for the protection of women in public, private and digital spaces.

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NATIONAL ➢ Delimitation under Rajana Prasad Desai Commission in Jammu & Kashmir

✓ The delimitation commission - to visit J&K from July 6 to July 9 to interact with political parties, public representatives and officials of the Union Territory

✓ The commission is headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai.

➢ CCRISP – World bank ✓ The World Bank - has approved a $500 million programme to support India’s informal

workforce, including gig workers and migrants ✓ Of the total commitment, $112.5 million will be financed by a credit from the

International Development Association (IDA), World Bank’s concessionary lending arm ✓ The latest assistance is granted further to the $1.15 billion committed already by World

Bank to support schemes in the country under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana ✓ This aid is offered as per a program called ‘Creating a Coordinated and Responsive

Indian Social Protection System (CCRISP) ➢ Zycov – D Plasmid DNA Vaccine

✓ Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila – has applied for emergency use authorisation (EUA) to the Drug Controller General of India for ZyCoV-D, its plasmid DNA vaccine against Covid-19

➢ Prevention, Care and Rehabilitation Bill, 2021

✓ The ministry of women and child development - has released the draft of the Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2021 in the public domain, asking for feedback till July

✓ The bill once finalised will need the Cabinet approval and assent of both Houses of Parliament to become a law.

✓ The new bill aims to tighten the punishment on traffickers and ensures a rehabilitation framework for survivors

✓ As per the new bill, any person committing an offence of “trafficking in persons” shall be punished with imprisonment not less than seven years but which may extend to ten years and shall also be liable to a fine of at least one lakh rupees.

➢ On July, Union AYUSH Minister Kiren Rijiju – launched the Ayurveda dataset on the

Clinical Trial Registry-India (CTRI) Portal ✓ The Ayurveda Dataset of CTRI has been jointly developed by Indian Council of Medical

Research (ICMR) and Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) under the Ministry of Ayush.

➢ The Coastal Shipping Service, Green Freight Corridor 2 was launched from Cochin port to Beypore and Azhikkal ports in Kerala

➢ NIPUN Bharat ✓ The initiative will be undertaken by the Department of School Education and Literacy,

Ministry of Education. ✓ NIPUN is the short form for ‘National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with

Understanding and Numeracy’

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✓ The programme intends to provide an easily accessible environment for basic education and numerical knowledge.

✓ Under the initiative, every child will be provided the desired learning competencies in reading, writing and numeracy by the end of class 3, by 2026-27

➢ ‘Financial Literacy Workbook’ for Class 6 students

✓ The book has been prepared by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

✓ The book will be used in “Financial Literacy” subject offered as an elective subject for Class 6

✓ It has been designed to improve the student’s knowledge in banking and payment areas.

➢ “ON TIME” GST Tax payers. ✓ On the eve of GST’s 4th anniversary on July, the Union Ministry of Finance – announced

that it will issue certificates of appreciation to around 54,439 GST taxpayers, who filed returns ‘on time’ and ensure ‘prompt’ cash payment of the tax

➢ DISCOM ✓ The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) - has approved the Rs 3.03 trillion

Power Distribution Company (DISCOM) reform scheme. ✓ The new scheme seeks to subsume programmes such as the Integrated Power

Development Scheme and the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana. ✓ Under the scheme, it is proposed to install approximately 10 crore prepaid Smart Meters

by December, 2023 in the first phase

➢ On July, the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) was made part of the finance ministry ✓ The move is intended to speed up the privatisation process and gain more control over

state-run-enterprises

➢ Capital city, Delhi – saw the most dramatic increase of 125% in the level of the key

pollutant, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), during the same period between April 2020 and April 2021

➢ Union Minister for Road transport - Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the country’s first

commercial liquified natural gas (LNG) filling station in Nagpur on July

➢ The ‘Jal Shakti’ (water resources) ministry – had urged states to speed up rainwater conservation exercise by revitalising existing ponds and water bodies, and provisioning check dams ✓ Earlier, under the ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan-1’ of 2019, only 1,592 water-stressed blocks out of

2,836 blocks are covered in 256 districts of the country. ✓ The latest assessment of ‘dynamic groundwater resources’ in India has shown a sign of

improvement in 2020 compared to 2017. ➢ LIC to be Privatised

✓ The Union Cabinet – has approved the share sale of the state-run insurance giant, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

✓ The government, which holds 100% equity holding in LIC, is planning to sell a portion of its stake in the process.

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✓ LIC’s IPO is expected to be the biggest in India with many analysts expecting a share sale in excess of Rs.1 lakh crore.

✓ It is part of the government’s plan to raise Rs.1.75 lakh from asset sales in state - run companies in the current fiscal year which ends in March.

✓ The government aims to complete strategic sale of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Shipping Corp, Container Corporation, Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd, Pawan Hans and Air India, among others, by March 2022.

✓ Besides, IDBI Bank would be privatised in the current fiscal

➢ The centre – had recently released Unified District Information System for Education Plus report (UDISE+) for 2019-2020. ✓ UDISE+, which was launched in 2018-2019, is the largest Management Information

Systems on school education. ✓ It covers 1.5 million schools, 8.5 million teachers and 250 million children. ✓ It is an advanced and improved version of UDISE that was launched in 2012-2013 by

integrating DISE for elementary education & SEMIS for secondary education. ✓ UDISE+ helps in measuring education parameters across classes 1 to 12 in government as

well as private schools in India .

➢ Serum Institute of India (SII) - to commence the production of Russia’s Sputnik V in the country in September 2021.

➢ “ShopSy” ✓ e-commerce major, Flipkart - has launched its new app called ‘Shopsy’ for facilitating

online business. ➢ 66A- IT Act

✓ The Union Home Ministry – has asked all states and Union Territories to instruct police stations not to register fresh cases under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act.

✓ The Supreme Court in its judgment on March 24, 2015 in the case of Shreya Singhal vs. Union of India, had scrapped Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 calling it “vague and arbitrary”.

✓ According to the SC, the section was repealed for being violative of the right to free

speech guaranteed under Article 19 of the Constitution Under the scrapped Section 66A of the IT Act, a person posting offensive messages could be imprisoned for up to three years alongwith fine.

✓ The Centre has requested that if any case has been booked in states and UTs under section 66A of the IT Act, 2000, such cases should be immediately withdrawn.

➢ The Union Cabinet - approved the extension of Rebate of State and Central taxes and

Levies (RoSCTL) for exports of garments and made ups, without changing the rates.

➢ Drone Rules 2021 ✓ “Drone Rules, 2021” for seeking public comments by August 5, 2021 ✓ Drone operators will have to generate a unique identification number of a drone by

providing the required details on the digital sky platform. ✓ The draft Rules also mandates safety features such real-time tracking beacon, and geo-

fencing, which are expected to be notified later ✓ Further, an interactive airspace map with green, yellow, and red zones is also proposed

to be displayed on the digital sky platform.

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➢ “Khadi” ✓ Khadi and Village Industry Commission (KVIC) - has secured trademark registration for

its brand name “Khadi” in three countries - Mexico, Bhutan and United Arab Emirates (UAE).

➢ The Centre - has moved a proposal to amend the 102nd constitutional amendment Act, enacted in 2018, to restore state’s power to decide OBCs ✓ The proposal will overturn the May 5 Supreme Court judgment in the Maratha

reservation case by a 5-judge Constitution Bench ✓ As per the verdict, only the President can declare any community as OBC based on the

recommendation of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC). ✓ The proposal seeks to restore the rights of states to identify the OBCs for the “state list”

of castes eligible for Mandal reservations in education and employment under state governments.

✓ The 102nd Constitution Amendment adds two clauses in Article 342 as Article 324A on the President declaring any socially or educationally backward class, in consultation with the state governor.

✓ The draft Bill was readied by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment ✓ It seeks to add a clarification clause in Article 342A that the state governments shall have

the power to identify and include the OBCs or socially and educationally backward classes in their respective lists The third clause will have to be inserted as Article 342A(3)

✓ Accordingly, the third clause will state that the power to notify the OBCs on the state list would be with the state governments.

➢ The Lok Sabha - passed the Factoring Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020, and the

National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management Bill, 2021. ✓ The Factoring Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was moved for consideration and

passage by the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman ✓ The changes in the legislation are aimed at helping the MSME sector to overcome the

problems of delayed payments ✓ The amendments to the factoring law are based on the recommendations of the U K

Sinha Committee.

➢ In a landmark decision, the Union government - has announced a 27% reservation for OBC, and a 10% reservation for EWS candidates in the All India Quota for UG and PG medical/dental courses in state-run colleges from the current academic year 2021-22 onwards ✓ The All India Quota (AIQ) Scheme was introduced in 1986 under the directions of the

Supreme Court ✓ It seeks to provide merit-based opportunities to students from any state aspiring to study

in a good medical college in another state

➢ Union Minister of State for Earth Sciences, Jitendra Singh – launched a new portal for 'Earth System Science Data' during the 15th foundation day event of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) on June.

➢ The Union railway ministry - has sanctioned a 23km-long line to provide direct connectivity from Karaikal to Peralam ✓ The new line will be laid as part of the Trichy-Thanjavur-Nagore-Karaikal gauge

conversion project at a budget of Rs.177.69 crore

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✓ This was announced by Union railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. ✓ Karaikal is located at 140 kms south of Puducherry, while Peralam is in Tiruvarur

district, Tamil Nadu

➢ The government - introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha to replace the Ordinance on the

constitution of the Commission for Air Quality Management in Delhi-NCR and adjoining areas

➢ The Geological Survey of India (GSI) - has taken up seven lithium exploration projects in Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir and Rajasthan

➢ India’s first ‘Grain ATM’ opened in Gurugram

✓ The country’s first ‘Grain ATM’ has been set up as a pilot project in Gurugram, Haryana. It is an automatic machine, which works just like a bank ATM.

➢ Karnataka Chief Minister, BS Yediyurappa has unveiled the Karnataka Electric Bike Taxi scheme- 2021.

➢ KVIC project ‘BOLD’ to boost tribal income

✓ KVIC (Khadi and Village Industries Commission) has launched Project BOLD (Bamboo

Oasis on Lands in Draught), a first of- its-kind exercise, to create bamboo-based green patches in arid and semi-arid land zones.

➢ Common eligibility test for Central govt jobs from 2022

✓ The first common eligibility test (CET) to recruit non-technical group B and C government staff has been delayed due to Covid-19 pandemic and is unlikely to be held by the end of this year, a senior Union minister.

➢ Cabinet extends Agri Infra Fund loans to APMCs

✓ The Centre has decided to allow state run market yards to access financing facilities through its Agricultural Infrastructure Fund to calm the fears of protesting farmers that such market yards are being weakened.

➢ India’s first driverless pod taxis will connect Jewar international airport with Greater Noida

✓ The first-ever pod taxi service in India is soon to start running between the upcoming Noida International Greenfield Airport (or Jewar Airport) and Noida Film City in Greater Noida, having a distance of around 14 km.

➢ FATF review of India's anti-money laundering postponed to 2022 due to Covid

✓ An evaluation by global organisation Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to analyse the effectiveness of India's anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing regime has been postponed for the second time in view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and is now slated to be initiated next year.

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➢ State Bank of India (SBI) has selected “PaisaloDigital” as the National Corporate Business Correspondent of the Bank for financial inclusion by providing banking services through kiosks.

➢ The Reserve Bank of India has accorded its approval to the Government of the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh to acquire 8.23 per cent of the paid-up equity capital of Jammu and Kashmir Bank Limited as on the date on enforcement of Jammu and Kashmir reorganization Act 2019.

➢ NTPC Ltd., India’s largest power generator is set to construct the country’s single-largest solar photovoltaic project at Rann of Kutch region in Khavada, Gujarat.

✓ The solar power park will have a capacity of 4.75 Gigawatt (Gw)/4750 MW.

➢ The union government has created a Ministry of Cooperation to boost the Indian cooperative movement and give a fillip to the indigenous enterprises.

✓ The new ministry of Cooperation will work to realise the vision of “Sahkar -se -

Samriddhi” and will provide a separate administrative, legal and policy framework

➢ IOC to set up first ‘green hydrogen’ plant at Mathura

✓ State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), India’s largest oil firm, will build the first ‘green hydrogen’ plant of the country at its Mathura refinery, to meet the growing demand for both oil and cleaner forms of energy.

➢ Government to set up Indian Heritage Institute in Noida

✓ The government has decided to set up the Indian Institute of Heritage at Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

➢ Digital Platform “Kisan Sarathi” launched to facilitate farmers

✓ In order to facilitate farmers to get ‘right information at right time’ in their desired language, a digital platform namely ‘KisanSarathi’ was launched jointly by Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

➢ Centre launches ‘Matsya Setu’ mobile app for Indian aqua farmers

✓ The Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Shri Giriraj Singh has launched a mobile app named ‘Matsya Setu’ on July 06, 2021 for fish farmers.

➢ The 14 tiger reserves of India that have received prestigious global accreditation from CA|TS are:

✓ Mudumalai and Anamalai Tiger Reserves, Tamil Nadu

✓ Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Karnataka

✓ Parambikulam Tiger Reserve, Kerala

✓ Sunderbans Tiger Reserve, West Bengal

✓ Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, Uttar Pradesh

✓ Valmiki Tiger Reserve, Bihar

✓ Pench Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra

✓ Satpura, Kanha and Panna Tiger Reserves, Madhya

✓ Pradesh

✓ Orang, Manas and Kaziranga in Assam

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SCHEME

➢ Government extends Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana deadline till March 2022 ✓ Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that Government

extended the Atmarnirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY) by nine months till March 31, 2022.

✓ The Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana was set to expire on June 30, 2021. Around 21.4 lakh benefited from this scheme since its launch.

✓ The Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY) is an employment generation scheme that encourages the creation of normal jobs in the country.

➢ Pension orders given under PRAYAS project ✓ The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in Tambaram distributed Pension

Payment Orders (PPOs) to the retiring employees of two organisations through the PRAYAS project.

✓ PRAYAS is an initiative of the EPFO, whereby the PPOs are distributed to the employees on the day of superannuation itself.

➢ Cabinet approves continuation of centrally sponsored scheme National AYUSH Mission for 5 years from FY 2021-2026 ✓ The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the

continuation of Centrally Sponsored Scheme ‘National AYUSH Mission (NAM)’ for another five years.

✓ Centre has allocated Rs. 4607.30 crore (Rs 3,000 crore as Central Share and Rs. 1607.30 crore as State Share) for the scheme to be invested over five years.

✓ The NAM Mission was first launched on 15 September, 2014. ✓ The objective of the mission is to provide cost effective AYUSH Services by focusing on

core competency areas of AYUSH like Ayurveda, Sidhha, Sowa Rigpa, Unani and also Homeopathy (ASU&H) which are a treasure house of knowledge for preventive, promotive and curative healthcare.

➢ Centre extends ‘Stand Up India Scheme’ up to 2025

✓ The Government of India has extended the duration of ‘Stand Up India Scheme’ up to the year 2025.

➢ One Bharat, Unnat Bharat ,scheme: UGC Instruction for Educational Institutions

✓ The UGC has instructed to send a report on the programs conducted in the educational institutions under the ‘One Bharat Unnata Bharat’ scheme of the Central Government.

➢ SMILE Scheme - Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment

✓ The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has developed a scheme called “SMILE’ Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise,” which includes a sub-scheme called “Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation of Persons Involved in Begging.

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COURT VERDICT ➢ The Madras High Court – has ruled that no public buildings can be constructed in the

state without providing access and toilet facilities to differently abled people. ✓ The verdict was pronounced by the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and

Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy on July ✓ The bench held that the official respondents, particularly the public works department

and its officials, should be acquainted with the governing statute and the national building code.

✓ This is to ensure that the mandatory instructions therein are adhered to without any exception, as per the Court.

➢ The Madras high court - directed the state government to take immediate steps to issue a separate certificate to the families of all eligible Covid-19 victims mentioning the cause of death

✓ The new certificate will help the families in getting claim relief, if any, provided by the government.

➢ The Supreme Court – sets aside provisions of Tribunal Reforms Ordinance 2021 brought by the Centre with respect to the four-year tenure for members and chairpersons of tribunals

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INTERNATIONAL

➢ China – celebrated the 100th anniversary of the founding of Communist Party of China

➢ “Bulletin” ✓ Facebook – launches its standalone subscription newsletter platform ‘Bulletin’

➢ Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba - formally became the Prime Minister of Nepal for a record fifth time after the Supreme Court’s intervention.

➢ Cuba - has developed world’s first conjugate Covid-19 vaccine named as ‘Soberana 2’

(Sovereign 2)

➢ The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021 Report: UN-FAO

✓ The annual UN-FAO report titled “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021” states that between 720 and 811 million people in the world faced hunger in 2020.

➢ 7th Indian Ocean Naval Symposium Concludes in France ✓ The 7th edition of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), concluded in France on

July 01, 2021. ✓ The biennial event was hosted by the French Navy at La Réunion from 28 June to 01 July

2021.

➢ S Jaishankar addresses G-20 Foreign Ministers meet ✓ External Affairs Minister Dr.S.Jaishankar addresses the G-20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting

in Matera, Italy. ✓ He said that Covid has slowed down global development and increased vulnerability in

societies. ✓ He said that international cooperation is the key to solve the Covid-19 crisis and the

challenges. ✓ He also emphasized that livelihood, health, digital access and climate action should be

the new developmental priorities for the world. ✓ He interacted with Foreign Ministers of 12 countries. He also spoke at the G20 session on

Africa. ✓ He said that India will focus on development projects along with digital cooperation in

health, education and capacity building.

➢ EU’s ‘Green Passport’ ✓ The European Union implemented the EU Digital COVID Certificate (EUDCC) or the

“Green Passport”, which allows ease of intra-European travel for passengers who have taken one of four vaccines ‘recognised’ by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

➢ World’s largest carbon market in China ✓ The largest carbon market in the world has been opened up by China. ✓ The country is the largest greenhouse emitter in the world. ✓ The project of the carbon market was announced by China 3 years ago, however, it was

dodged due to delays. ✓ The scheme will put a cap on energy plants by allocating emission allowances.

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➢ World’s first country to approve genetically modified ‘golden rice’ for commercial production ✓ The Philippines has become the first country in the world to get approval for the

commercial production of genetically modified “golden rice”, a variety of rice enriched with nutrients to help reduce childhood malnutrition.

➢ GI-tagged King Chilli ‘Raja Mircha’ from Nagaland exported to London for the first time ✓ A batch of ‘Raja Mircha,’ also known as king chilli, from Nagaland was exported to

London through Guwahati by air for the first time on July 28, 2021, giving a big boost to exports of Geographical Indications (GI) items from the north-eastern region.

✓ According to Scoville Heat Units (SHUs), the King Chilli is considered as the world’s hottest chilli and is constantly on the top five in the list of the world’s hottest chilies.

➢ United Kingdom reports cases of ‘Norovirus’ infection ✓ The United Kingdom is now reporting an outbreak of norovirus. ✓ Public Health England (PHE) recently issued a warning regarding Norovirus. ✓ England has recorded 154 cases of norovirus in the country.

➢ China has officially begun the construction of the world’s first commercial modular small reactor ‘Linglong One’ at the Changjiang Nuclear Power Plant in the country’s Hainan Province. ✓ The project is based on China National Nuclear Corporation’s (CNNC’s Linglong One

(ACP100) technology.

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INDIA AND OTHER COUNTRIES

➢ Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Bhutanese counterpart Lyonpo Namgay

Tshering – launched BHIM UPI, the Indian government’s digital payment app in Bhutan through a virtual ceremony on July

➢ The trial run of new rail line between Jayanagar in Bihar’s Madhubani district and

Kurtha in Dhanusa district of Nepal was completed successfully

➢ The Indian Railway - started an Oxygen Express carrying 200 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) from Tatanagar in Jharkhand to Benapole in Bangladesh

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CONFERENCES & SUMMITS

➢ Prime Minister Narendra Modi – inaugurated and addressed the Co-Win Global conclave

2021

➢ Indian and Pakistan foreign ministers – to meet each other in the SCO Afghanistan Contact Group meeting on July 13-14, which is to be held in Tajikistan’s Dushanbe ✓ The SCO meeting will review the worsening security situation in Afghanistan. ✓ It will also be attended by Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi

➢ Union Environment Minister, Bhupender Yadav – to address the G20 ministerial meeting

on environment and climate change on July ✓ The two-day Environment Ministerial Meeting of the G20 countries is scheduled to be

held in Naples, Italy

✓ Minister of State for Environment Ashwini Choubey is also part of the delegation taking part in the meeting

✓ The meeting is being held in hybrid format and India shall participate the meeting through video conferencing.

➢ The 11th Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) Ministerial Meeting – was held on July 21 through video conference ✓ The MGC initiative involves 6 countries — India, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos

and Vietnam ✓ It was launched in 2000 to ensure cooperation among the partner countries in a range of

areas including transport, communication, tourism, education and culture. ✓ External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar co-chaired the meeting alongwith Cambodia’s

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Prak Sokhonn

✓ During the meeting, the foreign ministers from Mekong countries reviewed the progress made on cooperative efforts since their 10th meeting in Bangkok on August 1, 2019.

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DEFENCE

➢ INS Tabar exercise with Italian Navy off Naples, Italy ✓ INS Tabar, a Talwar-class frigate of the Indian Navy, exercises with the Italian Navy. ✓ On 03 July 2021, INS Tabar entered the Port of Naples, Italy as part of the ongoing

deployment to the Mediterranean.

➢ Operation Sankalp: Sixteen Indian flagged vessels provided safe passage ✓ Twenty-three warships have been deployed so far in the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of

Oman to protect and provide safe passage for Indianflagged merchant vessels transiting through the region.

➢ ‘Exercise Shield’ maritime exercise held between India, Sri Lanka & Maldives ✓ A Tri Nation Table Top Anti-Narcotics &Maritime Search and Rescue exercise (Exercise

Shield) between Maldives National Defence Force, Sri Lanka Navy and Indian Navy was conducted in virtual mode for the first time on 14 and 15 July 2021 with Indian Navy as the lead agency.

➢ INS Talwar Participates in Maritime Exercise Cutlass Express 2021 ✓ The Indian Naval Ship (INS) Talwar is participating in multinational maritime exercise

named ‘Cutlass Express 2021 (CE21)’, which has been organised along the East Coast of Africa, in Mombasa, Kenya.

➢ Indo-Russia Joint Military Drill ‘Exercise INDRA 2021 ✓ The 12th Edition of Indo-Russia joint military exercise called ‘Exercise INDRA 2021’ will

be held at Volgograd, Russia from 01 to 13 August 2021. ➢ P- 8I Poseidon

✓ Indian Navy - has recently received its 10th long-range anti-submarine warfare and maritime patrol aircraft P-8I Poseidon from the US-based aerospace company, Boeing.

➢ ‘Project – 75 India (P- 75)’ ✓ The Union government - had issued the tender for the longpending Rs.50,000 crore

(almost $7 billion) mega diesel-electric submarine building programme called ‘Project-75 India (P-75I)’

➢ Indian Navy ships missile frigate Satpura, Jyoti, Kavaratti, destroyer Ranvir, Kulish, and a Kilo-class submarine took part in PASSEX

➢ The Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli (OFT) - launched a new weapon called TriCa (Trichy Carbine), a mini version of the Trichy Assault Rifle (TAR).

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ECONOMICS ➢ Global ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) – retained the long-term rating of India at

BBB(-) with a ‘stable’ outlook Slipping Grades Global agencies of India

Agency Rating Outlook

Moody’s BAA3 Negative

S & P BBB- Stable

Fitch BBB- Negative

➢ NARCL – Bad Bank

✓ The National Asset Reconstruction Co. Ltd (NARCL) - has been registered with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) in Mumbai with a paid-up capital of Rs.74.6 crore

✓ Called as the ‘Bad bank’, the new legal entity will be headed by Padmakumar Madhavan Nair, a stressed assets expert from State Bank of India (SBI), as the managing director

✓ The setting up of the bad bank is part of the government’s efforts to clean up India’s financial system with biggest piles of bad assets

✓ As announced in the budget for FY22, NARCL will house bad loan accounts of Rs.500 crore, or more

➢ The International Monetary Fund (IMF) - slashed India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 9.5% for 2021-22, from its earlier estimate of 12.5%

➢ GST milestone in India's economiclandscape: PM Modi ✓ Prime Minister Narendra Modi proclaimed that the GST has been a milestone in the

economic landscape of India as it has decreased the number of taxes, compliance burden and overall tax weight on the common man.

➢ GST Council decides extra-neutral alcohol taxation to stay with states

✓ The GST Council has decided to continue with the status quo on states taxing Extra

Neutral Alcohol (ENA), which is used for manufacturing alcoholic liquor for human consumption.

➢ IDFC First Bank launches ‘Ghar Ghar Ration’ scheme

✓ The IDFC First Bank has launched a unique Employee-funded program called ‘Ghar Ghar Ration’ for its low-income customers who were affected by Covid-19.

➢ IMF Approves $ 650 Billion Expansion to Fight Covid-19 Pandemic

✓ The executive board of the International Monetary Fund approved a $650 billion expansion in resources to support economically vulnerable nations as they battle the coronavirus pandemic.

➢ India Aims to Target over 100 Billion “Blue Economy”

✓ Union Minister of State (Independent Charge)Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions,

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Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh stated that in the years to come, India aims to target over 100 billion “Blue Economy” through its Deep Ocean Mission (DOM) and ocean resources.

✓ This could be a new avenue to supplement the country’s economy to the tune of an estimated 110 billion.

✓ The “Deep Ocean Mission” will also have far reaching benefits for the common man.

➢ Centre releases Rs 75,000 crore to states, UTs as GST compensation ✓ The government announced it has released Rs 75,000 crore to the states and Union

Territories to compensate them for the shortfall in GST revenue.

➢ India's economic growth to start hitting 6.5-7% from FY23 onwards: CEA ✓ The country’s economy will start witnessing a growth of 6.5 to 7 per cent from fiscal 2023

onwards, helped by various reforms undertaken by the government so far and also as Covid-19 vaccination drive progresses, Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy

Subramanian.

➢ Cabinet approves Rs 6.29-lakh crore COVID-19 relief package announced by FM ✓ The Union Cabinet approved the Rs 6.29-lakh crore relief package announced by Finance

Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to support the pandemic-hit economy.

➢ Cabinet clears viability gap funds for BharatNet ✓ The Union Cabinet approved a viability gap funding support of up to `19,041 crore for

the implementation of the BharatNet project through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model in 16 States.

✓ The project will be extended to all inhabited villages beyond the gram panchayats in 16 States — Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh.

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APPOINTMENTS

➢ The U.S. State Department - announced the appointment of Atul Keshap as the interim Chargé d’Affaires (CDA) in New Delhi

➢ The Centre - has extended the tenure of NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Amitabh Kant, by one more year till June 2022. ✓ The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by PM Modi, has approved the

extension in tenure of Amitabh Kant, CEO, National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog)

➢ Andy Jassy – officially takes over as the CEO of Amazon from Jeff Bezos on July ➢ Eric Garcetti _ New Ambassador to India

✓ Eric Garcetti, a Democratic Party insider from California and Mayor of Los Angeles - was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as the new US ambassador to India in New Delhi on July

➢ President Joe Biden – has nominated Indian-American Dr Rahul Gupta, West Virginia’s

former health commissioner, as the top anti-drug official of the United States

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AWARDS

➢ Renowned Odia poet, Dr Rajendra Kishore Panda - has been awarded Kuvempu Rashtriya Puraskar 2020

✓ Kuvempu Rashtriya Puraskar is the national award instituted in memory of late poet Kuvempu

➢ First Blue Carbon Project ✓ Two Indian organizations, Aadhimalai Pazhangudiyinar Producer Company Limited

and Snehakunja Trust - are announced among the 10 winners of the prestigious Equator Prize for their work in the field of conservation and biodiversity

✓ Aadhimalai Pazhangudiyinar Producer Company Limited is a 1,700-member cooperative, managed and run entirely by Indigenous people from the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in Southern India

✓ Snehakunja Trust has protected sensitive wetland and coastal ecosystems in the Western Ghats and the Karnataka coast for 45 years

✓ They were involved in the restoration and protection of freshwater swamps and evergreen forests to safeguard endangered species, keep significant carbon sinks intact, and maintain critical aquifers for Indigenous communities

✓ After restoring 375 hectares of mangroves, Snehakunja Trust is currently working on the first blue carbon project in India.

➢ Three India-based enterprises – were named among the winners of UNsponsored global

competition for the ‘Best Small Businesses’

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PERSONALITIES ➢ Sirisha Bandla is the second Indian born woman to fly to space

✓ Sirisha Bandla of Indian origin is set to become the second Indian-born woman to fly into space after Kalpana Chawla.

➢ Syama Prasad Mookerjee, a torchbearer of Indian nationalism ✓ India’s journey as the epitome of humanist culture grew from the ideas of this land’s

visionary stalwarts.

➢ 315th year completes Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg came to India

✓ Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg was the first Protestant missionary to land in India, sent as a Royal Missionary by King Frederick IV, from the Kingdom of Denmark. Ziegenbalg landed at Tranquebar, then part of Danish India colony of the Danish East India Company, on 9 July 1706.

➢ EAM Jaishankar unveils statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Georgia ✓ External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has unveiled a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in

Georgia at a prominent Tbilisi park. ➢ Maraimalai Adigal 145th birth Anniversary-July 15,2021

✓ Maraimalai Adigal (15 July 1876 – 15 September 1950) was a Tamil orator and writer and father of Pure Tamil movement.

➢ Tributes pour in for Kadambini Ganguly India's first woman doctor on 160th birth anniversary ✓ Tributes poured in for Kadambini Ganguly as Google Doodle honoured the countrys

first woman doctor with a special graphic on her 160th birth anniversary. ➢ Chandra Shekhar Azad Jayanti

✓ Chandra Shekhar Azad Jayanti is celebrated on 23 July each year. ✓ He was an Indian revolutionary who reorganised the Hindustan ✓ Republican Association (HRA) under its new name of Hindustan Socialist Republican

Association (HSRA).

➢ Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy birth anniversary ✓ It is the 136th anniversary of the country’s first woman legislator Muthulakshmi Reddy.

He was born on this day in 1886 in Pudukottai, Tamil Nadu.

➢ Former President APJ Abdul Kalam’s Death anniversary ✓ The sixth death anniversary of former President APJ Abdul Kalam was observed on July

27, 2021

➢ Oliver – Daemen

✓ An 18-year old Dutch student, Oliver Daemen - to become the youngest person to fly in space with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin on July.

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➢ ‘China Room’

✓ Indian-origin British novelist Sunjeev Sahota - is among 13 authors longlisted for this year’s Booker Prize for fiction for his novel ‘China Room’

✓ The 40-year-old, whose grandparents emigrated from Punjab in the 1960s, has been previously shortlisted for the 2015 Booker Prize for ‘The Year of the Runaways’.

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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

➢ Virigin Galactic’s VSS ✓ British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson - became the first person to blast off to space in

his own spaceship ‘Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity’ on July ✓ Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is expected to take his trip to space on July 20, the 52nd anniversary

of the Apollo 11 moon landing, on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket.

➢ Mars and Venus— two of the Earth’s closest neighbours — came closest to each other in the sky – in July

➢ Ectoine

✓ Ectoine is a molecule which is capable of protecting the skin from ultraviolet radiation and has anti-ageing properties

➢ China - unveiled a maglev train capable of a top speed of 600kmph on July

➢ A group of astronomers – have detected a short and powerful burst of high energy

(gamma-ray) radiation lasting for about a second ✓ The burst was detected by Nasa’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope ✓ The shortest gamma-ray burst (GRB) is caused by the death of a massive star ✓ GRBs are among the brightest and most energetic events in the universe, detectable

across billions of light years.

➢ The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) - successfully conducted the third long-duration hot test of the liquid propellant Vikas engine for the Gaganyaan programme, the country's first manned mission to space. ✓ The test was done for the core L110 liquid stage of the human-rated GSLV MkIII vehicle ✓ The engine was fired for 4 minutes at the test facility of ISRO Propulsion Complex

(IPRC), Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu ✓ The objective of the Gaganyaan programme is to demonstrate the capability to send

humans to low earth orbit onboard an Indian launch vehicle and bring them back to earth

✓ Four Indian astronaut candidates have already undergone generic space flight training in Russia as part of the Gaganyaan Programme.

➢ For the first time ever, astronomers – have found evidence of water vapour in the atmosphere of Jupiter’s moon ‘Ganymede’

➢ Mynvax, a vaccine technology startup incubated by the Indian Institute of Science’s Society for Innovation and Development – has developed a ‘thermotolerant’ or ‘warm’ vaccine effective against all current SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.

➢ Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad - have developed India’s first

Rapid electronic Covid-19 RNA Test kit that allows self-testing at home called ‘COVIHO

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SPORTS

➢ Tamil Nadu – to send five athletes from the state for the Tokyo Olympics Games, out of the total 26-member athletics team announced ✓ The first time that five from the state have been named in the athletics squad

✓ 1.Arokia Rajiv, 2.Naganathan Pandi (both in men’s 4x400m relay), 3.Revathi

Veeramani, 4.Subha Venkatesan and

✓ 5.S Dhanalakshmi (all in 4x400m mixed relay) are named in the athletics squad for the marquee event.

➢ Youngest grandmaster

✓ Indian-American Abhimanyu Mishra – becomes the youngest Grandmaster in chess.

➢ Maana Patel - has become the first Indian female swimmer to qualify for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics through universality quota

➢ Top para high-jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu was named the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent at the Tokyo Paralympics, which begin on August 24.

➢ First Married Couple to Play Wimbledm ✓ Indian tennis player Divij Sharan and his British wife Samantha Murray – have

become the first married couple to play the Wimbledon mixed doubles in the last 52 years.

➢ The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) – announced six-time world boxing champion M C Mary Kom and men’s hockey team captain Manpreet 9 Singh as India’s flag-bearers for the Tokyo Olympics’ opening ceremony on July 23 at the Japan National Stadium. ✓ It will be the first time that the country’s official Games contingent will have two flag-

bearers – one male and one female – to ensure “gender parity”, as has been advocated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

✓ Star wrestler and World No.1 in men’s freestyle 65kg category, Bajrang Punia, will lead the Indian contingent at the closing ceremony on August 8

✓ Mary Kom will be featuring in her last Olympics in Tokyo, after winning the historic bronze at the 2012 London Games.

➢ World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty – won her maiden Wimbledon women’s singles title on May

➢ COPA America ✓ Argentina - defeated Brazil by a solitary goal at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro

on July 10 to claim their first Copa America title since 1993

➢ World No. 1 Novak Djokovic - won a record-equalling 20th Grand Slam title and sixth Wimbledon title after defeating first-time finalist Matteo Berrettini of Italy in a four set final

➢ Wimbledon Boy Title

✓ Samir Banerjee, 17-year old Indian-American from New Jersey - defeated Victor Lilov (USA) 7-5, 6-3 to clinch the Wimbledon boys title and his first gram slam.

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➢ Euro 2020 Roll of Honour ✓ Italy - won the European Championship 2020 by beating England 3-2 on penalties on

July 11 at Wembley, UK ✓ Italy last won the Euro in Rome in 1968, the first time a team clinched the title on home

soil.

➢ Star shooter Saurabh Chaudhary- has featured in the Time magazine’s recently-released list of ‘athletes to watch out for at Tokyo Olympics’ ✓ Saurabh is the only Indian to make it to the coveted list

➢ Deepak Kabra - has become the first Indian to judge the gymnastics competition of the

Olympic Games ✓ Kabra will officiate in the men’s artistic gymnasts at the Tokyo Games, which starts on

July 23 ✓ Kabra became the first Indian judge to officiate in the 2014 Asian Games and Youth

Olympics ✓ Kabra was appointed as a member of the Asian Gymnastics Union's technical committee

in 2018.

➢ Nobel Peace Prize awardee Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh - will become the second recipient of the Olympic Laurel ✓ Yunus will receive the trophy during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Games on July

➢ 35th Olympic Games, scheduled to be held in 2032

✓ Australian city, Brisbane - was awarded the rights to host the 35th Olympic Games, scheduled to be held in 2032.

✓ 2024 – Paris ✓ 2028 – Los Angeles In USA ✓ 2032 –Australia

➢ The Tokyo 2020 Olympics - will officially start on July 23 at the National Stadium in the

Japanese capital, Tokyo ✓ Japanese Emperor Naruhito will formally open the Olympic Games as his grandfather

Hirohito did in 1964.

➢ Japan’s World No. 2 tennis player Naomi Osaka - served as the final Olympic torchbearer

for the Tokyo Olympic Games and lit the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony held in Tokyo on July.

➢ Ace Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu - clinched a silver medal and became the first Indian to win an Olympic medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games in the women’s 49kg weightlifting event on July

➢ Papua New Guinea’s Loa Dika Toua - made history as the first female to compete in five Olympic weightlifting competitions on July

➢ Triathlete Flora Duffy - bagged the first Olympic gold medal in history for the tiny island

of Bermuda in Tokyo. ✓ The 33-year-old crossed the line in the women’s race ahead of Britain’s Georgia Taylor-

Brown, with US athlete Katie Zaferes taking bronze.

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OBITUARY

➢ Legendary actor Dilip Kumar (98 years) - died after a prolonged illness in Mumbai's Khar Hinduja Hospital on July

➢ Doyen of Ayurveda and managing trustee of Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala (AVS), Dr P K

Warrier - passed away in Kerala on July 10, a month after celebrating his 100 birthday on June ✓ President Ram Nath Kovind and PM Narendra Modi condoled his demise. ✓ Warrier was honoured with Padma Shri in 1999 and Padma Bhushan in 2010. ✓ Dr P K Warrier played a monumental role in popularizing Ayurveda across the world

and in building a bridge between traditional Indian systems of healing and modern science.

➢ Tamil scholar and orator ‘Kalaimamani’ So Sathiyaseelan (88 years) - passed away in

Trichy. ✓ Fondly referred to as ‘Sollin Selvar’ after the award he received in 2015, Sathiyaseelan

was known by various epithets such as Ilakkiya Peroli, Navukkarasar, Natramizh Vel, Kamba Kavalar and Tamil Neri Semmal.

✓ Born to freedom fighter parents on April 14, 1933, in Perambalur, Sathiyaseelan was conferred with the ‘Kalaimamani’ award in 2011 for his service to Tamil language.

➢ Former Indian cricketer and 1983 World Cup winner Yashpal Sharma (66 years) - has died of cardiac attack in Delhi on July

➢ Danish Siddiqui, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian photojournalist with the Reuters news

agency - was killed on July

➢ India’s oldest learner and Nari Shakthi awardee, Bhageerathi amma (107 years) of Kollam

district in Kerala - passed away on July following agerelated illness

➢ Prominent Tamil scholar Pulavar R Ilankumaranar (94 years) - passed away late on July 25

at his residence in Madurai due to age-related health issues

✓ Ilankumaranar participated in the grand function of installation of the 133 feet tall statue of saint-poet Thiruvalluvar in Kanyakumari by the then chief minister M Karunanidhi

✓ In 2003, the then President APJ Abdul Kalam released Ilaknumaranar’s yet another book titled ‘Sanga Ilakkiya Varisaiyil Purananooru’.

✓ Madurai Kamaraj University, where he worked as a guest lecturer, honoured him with ‘Tamil Peravi Semmal’ award in 2009

➢ Farewell to Mayiladuthurai’s ‘Florence Nightingale’ ✓ Mayiladuthurai town bid a tearful farewell to its own “Florence Nightingale”, who

recently died after decades of maternity service to the local population. ✓ Phyllis Rodrigues, 98, was a gynaecologist at the Dharmapuram

Adheenam Free Maternity Home for over 35 years.

➢ Legendary Indian badminton player Nandu Natekar (88 years) – passed away at his residence in Pune due to age-related ailments on July

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RANKING

➢ Global – Cyber Security India – GCI

✓ India - has been ranked at 10th position with a score of 97.5 in the Global Cyber Security Index (GCI) 2020, moving up by 37 places from the 2019 index

➢ India ranked 20th in Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2021 ✓ India stands at the 20th spot among the top 100 countries that have been ranked in the

Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2021 by Startup Blink. ✓ The country was in the 17th spot in 2019.

REPORT

➢ UN-FAO Report

✓ The annual UN-FAO report titled “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the

World 2021” states that between 720 and 811 million people in the world faced hunger in 2020, which is around 161 million more than in 2019.

✓ The report was jointly produced by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

➢ Billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos - will cross the space frontier at 100km up in

the sky and spend about 5 minutes each in zero gravity, within the next 10 days.

✓ They will be the first amateurs to do so in privately designed and owned spacecraft ✓ Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced he would take a trip to space with his brother

Mark on July 20 ✓ Anousheh Ansari, became the first woman commercial traveller — fourth overall — in

September 2006. ✓ Global financial services firm, UBS expects space tourism to be a $3-billion market by

2030.

➢ The French Government – has initiated investigation on the suspected widespread use of the Pegasus spyware to target journalists, human rights activists and politicians in multiple countries

➢ Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man - became the planet’s wealthiest “astronaut” on July 20, after travelling to outer space in his own rocket to mark a new era in private space travel

➢ In 30 Years of Liberalisation – Report, 10 Reforms that changed India

➢ NEW INDUSTRIAL POLICY

✓ Industrial licensing was abolished and 18 PSU industries were gradually liberalised ✓ Monopolies And Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1969, was abolished

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➢ FDI& TRADE POLICY ✓ Import licensing was £ B^ abolished for capital goods & intermediates. which became freely importable in 1993, simultaneously with the switch to a flexible exchange rate regime ✓ India joined the World Trade Organization and Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual

Property Rights agreement ✓ Quantitative restrictions on imports of manufactured consumer goods and agricultural

products removed in 2001. The policy now allows 100% foreign ownership in many industries and majority ownership in all except banking, insurance, telecommunications and airlines

✓ Current account convertibility introduced in 1994 ➢ NEW INSTITUTIONS

✓ Securities and Exchange Board of India established ✓ Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority and Pension Fund Regulatory &

Development Authority set up ✓ Union Budget created 'development finance institutions' and 'bad banks' to fund

infrastructure and resolve stressed assets ✓ GST Council established

➢ GOVERNMENT BORROWING

✓ Domestic bond markets created and Clearing Corporation of India is set up ➢ INTEREST RATE LIBERALISATION

✓ Interest rate controls were dismantled and savings interest rates were deregulated

➢ BASEL ACCORDS ✓ Basel Accords, a series of 3 international banking regulation agreements, adopted.

➢ DNFSA&MGNREGS

✓ NFSA legally entitled up to 75% of the rural and 50% of the urban population to receive subsidised food grain under the Targeted Public Distribution System

✓ MGNREGS guaranteed 100 days of wage-employment per year in rural areas

➢ AADHAAR ✓ Aadhaar system provided a single-source offline/online identity verification, boosting

the inclusion of programmes like PMJDY, Ayushman Bharat and Ujjwala ➢ INSOLVENCY & BANKRUPTCY CODE

✓ A comprehensive law, IBC consolidated both consequential aspects of an economic collapse of a debtor - rehabilitation as well as liquidation

➢ MONETARY POLICY COMMITTEE

✓ MPC was set up with basic objective to maintain price stability and accelerate the economy's growth rate. It has brought monetary policy decision making in line with global best practice

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IMPORTANT DAYS

Day Theme Significances

July 1 National Doctor’s Day "Save The Saviours."

• Dr Roy was born on July 1, 1882, and passed away on July 1, 1962

July 11 World Population Day

“Rights and Choices are the Answer: Whether baby boom or bust, the solution to shifting fertility rates lies in prioritising all people’s reproductive health and rights."

• First World Population Day - July 11, 1989

• Established by - UNDP.

July 12 World Malala Day

-

• Observed by United Nations from 2013.

• To honour of the young Pakistani human rights activist, Malala Yousafzai.

July 15 World Youth Skills Day

“Re imagining Youth Skills Post-Pandemic.”

• Declared by: - United Nations General Assembly.

July 17 World Day for International Justice or International Justice Day

“Social justice in the digital economy”.

The day marks the importance of bringing justice for the victims of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

July 22 World Brain Day

“Stop Multiple Sclerosis” The day was first observed in 2014

July 23 National Broadcasting Day

_ • First Radio Broadcast - 1927,

from Bombay Station.

July 24 Aaykar Diwas (Income Tax Day)

- • Observed by :- Central Board

of Direct Taxes (CBDT)

• 161st Income Tax Day

July 26 Kargil Vijay Diwas

- It is celebrated to honour the Kargil War’s Heroes.

July 28 World Hepatitis Day

“Hepatitis Can’t Wait”

Screening and vaccination of healthcare workers against hepatitis B at government and private hospitals marked World Hepatitis Day.

July 29 International Tiger Day

"Their Survival is in our hands"

Tiger Reserves

• India - 52

• Tamil Nadu - 5 Tiger Population India – 2967 Tamil Nadu - 264

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Apex Cabinet Reshuffle: 43 leaders take oath as ministers

New Cabinet Ministers 2021

New Cabinet Ministers

Portfolios

Narayan Rane Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

Sarbananda Sonowal Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Minister of AYUSH

Virendra Kumar Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment

Jyotiraditya Scindia Minister of Civil Aviation

Ramchandra Prasad Singh

Minister of Steel

Ashwini Vaishnaw Minister of Railways; Minister of Communications; and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology

Pashu Pati Kumar Paras

Minister of Food Processing Industries

Kiren Rijiju Minister of Law and Justice

Raj Kumar Singh

Minister of Power; and Minister of New and Renewable Energy

Hardeep Singh Puri Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas; and Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs

Mansukh Mandaviya

Minister of Health and Family Welfare; and Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers

Bhupendra Yadav Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Minister of Labour and Employment

Parshottam Rupala Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying

G Kishan Reddy Minister of Culture; Minister of Tourism; and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region

Anurag Singh Thakur

Minister of Information and Broadcasting; and Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports

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SI. No Ministers of State (Independent Charge)

Ministry

Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Statistics and

1 Rao Inderjit Singh Programme Implementation;

Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Planning; and

Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs

Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science and Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences;

2 Dr Jitendra Singh Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office; Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Minister of State in the Department of Atomic Energy; and Minister of State in the Department of Space

New Ministers of State

Ministers of State Minister of State In

Pankay Chaudhary Ministry of finance

Anupriya Singh Patel Ministry of commerce and industry

Satya Pal Singh Bhagel Ministry of Law and Justice

Ministry of skill development and entrepreneur ship: and Ministry of electronics and information technology

Shobha Karandlaje Ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare

Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

Dardhana Vikram Jardosh Ministry of textiles: and Ministry of Railways

Meenakshi Lekhi Ministry of external affairs: and Ministry of culture

Annapurna Devi Ministry of education

A Narayanaswamy Ministry of Social Justice in power meant

Kaushal Kishore Ministry of housing and urban affairs

Ajay Bhatt Ministry of defence: and Ministry of tourism

BL Verma Ministry of development of North Eastern region: and Minister of cooperation

Ajay Kumar Ministry of home affairs

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Chauhan Devusinh Ministry of communications

Bhagwanth Khuba Ministry of new and Renewable Energy: Ministry of chemicals and fertilizers

Kapil Moreshwas Patil Ministry of Panchayati Raj

Pratima Bhoumik Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment

Subhas Sarkar Ministry of Education

Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad Ministry of Finance

Rajkumar Ranjan Singh Ministry of external affairs: and Ministry of education

Bharati Pravin Pawar Ministry of health and family welfare

Bishweswar Tudu Ministry of tribal affairs: Ministry Ministry of Jal Shakti

Shantanu Thakur Ministry of ports, shipping and waterways

Munjapara Mahendrabhai Ministry of women and Child development: and Ministry of AYUSH

John Barla Ministry of minority affairs

Dr L Murugan Ministry of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying; minister of information and Broadcasting

Nisith Pramanik Ministry of home affairs: and Ministry of youth affairs and sports

Complete list of new governors:

SI.no State New Governor

1 Karnataka Thawarchand Gehlot

2 Madhya Pradesh Mangubhai Chhaganbhai Patel

3 Mizoram Dr. Hari Babu Kambhampati

4 Himachal Pradesh Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar

5 Goa P.S. Sreedharan Pillai

6 Tripura Satyadev Narayan Arya

7 Jharkhand Ramesh Bais

8 Haryana Bandaru Dattatraya